Western Australian Coastal Shark Bites: A risk assessment
Peter Sprivulis
Abstract
Background
As Western Australia’s (WA) government enacts shark bite mitigation, the personal risk of shark bite in WA has not been studied.
Aims
Model the risk of large (>3m) white shark bite (Carcharodon carcharias, LWS) in southwest WA.
Method
An observational study inclusive of 1 January 1974 to 31 December 2013 was conducted. Analysis of prey abundance, location, water temperature, and water activity participation. Shark bite risk was benchmarked against serious or fatal recreational cycling crash risk in WA.
Results
Total and fatal shark bites have grown exponentially over 40 years (3 to 29 total, 0 to 7 fatal per 5 years), correlated with the 10 per cent annual growth in WA humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) abundance (rtotal=0.96 95%CI 0.77–0.99, p
Full Text:
As Western Australia’s (WA) government enacts shark bite mitigation, the personal risk of shark bite in WA has not been studied.
Aims
Model the risk of large (>3m) white shark bite (Carcharodon carcharias, LWS) in southwest WA.
Method
An observational study inclusive of 1 January 1974 to 31 December 2013 was conducted. Analysis of prey abundance, location, water temperature, and water activity participation. Shark bite risk was benchmarked against serious or fatal recreational cycling crash risk in WA.
Results
Total and fatal shark bites have grown exponentially over 40 years (3 to 29 total, 0 to 7 fatal per 5 years), correlated with the 10 per cent annual growth in WA humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) abundance (rtotal=0.96 95%CI 0.77–0.99, p
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